Interstellar Survival: Invasion

Chapter 276: Amnestic Dodo

"Looks like we have reached the city of machines," whispered Old Du.

Footsteps of the smart robot rang out on the ship. Shortly after, we heard the ship's door opening before shutting. The entire ship then turned still. It was obvious the crew of the ship had all left.

"We'll wait until after they leave before looking for a small ship we can fly to our destination," I decided.

"Looks like the security here has really gotten lax. Maybe they are too confident in their own main base. I reckon they never expected us to travel through time to reach this place," said Zhang Bao'er smugly.

"Do not be careless. If we get captured due to carelessness, nobody will be able to save us because of the ongoing war," I reminded Zhang Bao'er.

We waited for 30 minutes, but it was still noisy outside the ship, as though a crowd was constantly around it.

"Why is it so noisy outside? Should I go take a look?" asked Anxashe.

"There is no rush. After the emptied ships leave the transport ship, the newly restocked ships still need to board it. We will need to stay here for quite a while," said Old Du, recalling what we had observed our previous time here.

After about 100 minutes, it finally grew silent outside. It would seem like they were finally done moving their goods.

"I think most of the people outside have left. It's time we leave as well. If we wait longer, the people will probably return to restock the ship," said Old Du.

"Move," I ordered decisively.

We rushed out of our hiding spot. Anxashe was able to easily open the door. It was night outside. The three stars weren't visible in the sky, but the numerous floating lamps in the sky were enough to brighten the entire area.

In fact, apart from the floating lamps, there were also countless ships in the sky. Some were battleships and some were transport ships. Further in the distance, the massive legs of the superweapon could be seen. Beside the superweapon was an extremely conspicuous skyscraper. Only upon seeing this did we fully believe that an all-out war had erupted.

We started searching the docking bay for a flying vehicle we could use. The docking bay was massive, and we occasionally stumbled upon smart robots that were performing maintenance work on the vehicles. Nobody bothered verifying our identity, so after patiently searching for a while, Zhang Bao'er suddenly pointed at a familiar ship.

"Old Du, look at that ship! Doesn't it look exactly the same as Big Forest's safe house? Let's take it and use it to head to the central district," suggested Zhang Bao'er.

The ship in front of us was indeed the same as the one we had used two years ago. It wasn't particularly large, so it was suitable for infiltration. I nodded in agreement, and all four of us ran toward the ship.

When we reached the ship, Old Du was able to open its door without much trouble. It would seem that during wartime, these transport ships were not installed with any security measures for ease of usage.

After entering the ship, Old Du and I took over the cockpit. The ship's operating system was similar to the battleship we had seen on Eternal. In fact, its system was even simpler and faster to manipulate. Thus, we were able to easily start the ship.

With the ship started, Zhang Bao'er and Anxashe took their seats behind us. The ship rose smoothly, and under Old Du's control, the ship had surpassed the height of the floating lamps in the sky, reaching the dark part of the sky.

"Canyue, two o'clock ahead of us. That's the tall building we saw before, so that should be our target. The superweapon we saw before was probably the giant beside the building," said Zhang Bao'er.

After adjusting the ship's trajectory, Old Du had the ship head toward the skyscraper. Before long, we arrived above the tall building. An entire fleet hovered in the sky above the building and around it, seemingly there to protect the area. Countless small drones and transport ships were moving around, presenting a bustling scene.

"Canyue, look at that superweapon. It's actually legless," said Zhang Bao'er.

I looked over and found with astonishment that the superweapon was still quite far away. Its legs looked like they were buried deep in the ground, to the point they were not visible.

"It's not that it doesn't have any legs, but it is probably too far away from us, so far that the curve of the planet covered the legs and blocked them from our view," said Old Du.

While all of us were still immersed in our shock at the size of the superweapon, an air defense drone flew toward us.

"Air defense drone, our true nemesis. Why do we keep meeting them?" complained Zhang Bao'er.

"Our transport ship is weaponless. Stay calm," I reminded Zhang Bao'er.

The drone flew around us a few times before returning to the spot in front of the cockpit. Then, it shook its wing, looking like it was issuing some sort of a signal.

"Canyue, it doesn't look like it's going to attack. Instead, it's releasing a signal to us," said Old Du.

"Odd. I thought all the machines here should be smart robots?" muttered Zhang Bao'er doubtfully.

Suddenly, something connected with our communication system and Eternal characters appeared on our screen: Follow me.

"What is this fellow doing? It seems to know about us. We need to be careful in case this is a trap," said Old Du.

I looked at Old Du and said, "At this point, why should they even bother trapping us? There are only four of us here. They can attack directly, and there'll be nothing we can do. Perhaps this is really our friend, or there is some other reason it's doing this. I think we should try following it."

Zhang Bao'er and Anxashe also voiced their agreement with my proposal. Seeing that a choice had been made, Old Du gave the drone our reply. Upon receiving our reply, the drone turned around and flew away. Under Old Du's control, our ship followed closely behind it.

The drone brought us toward the skyscraper. Only upon nearing the building could we appreciate just how grand the building was. We encountered numerous patrols along the way, but because we were led by a drone, we were able to advance unbothered.

"Good thing there's this drone helping us. Otherwise, it will be very difficult to sneak into the building," said Zhang Bao'er.

"I have a feeling this drone was sent by someone we know. Probably Temo or Dodo," I guessed.

"Temo or Dodo? How are they supposed to know about our arrival?" asked Old Du. He appeared to agree with me, but he was also feeling doubtful at the same time.

"If even Bulu can find us, perhaps Temo noticed us the moment we stepped into this ship," I said.

While we spoke, our ship arrived before a massive arched door. After going through the door, I saw that we were at a massive indoor launching platform. Numerous battleships were entering the building before taking a ride on some sort of hanging platform. They would then be brought straight to outer space before they took off. That way, these ships could all leave the planet without wasting more energy going through the atmosphere.

"Just how much materials did they spend building this thing? I suppose only a star-level civilization is capable of building something like this," lamented Old Du.

Our ship continued following our guide. After going through the launching area, we started flying toward the administrative area near the edge of the building.

Soon, the drone stopped on a platform. Old Du also stopped our ship. The moment we were parked, a door facing us slid open. A familiar figure appeared in front of us. That person was none other than Dodo.

"Dodo, I knew it was you! What a surprise!" exclaimed Zhang Bao'er in excitement.

Old Du opened the door, and all four of us rushed out and surrounded Dodo. We started asking question after question, playing out the scene of a reunion after a long separation. But it did not take me long to notice that we were the only ones talking, whereas Dodo had remained completely silent. Seeing that, I signaled Zhang Bao'er and Old Du to stop.

"Dodo, what's wrong? Why aren't you saying anything? Do you still remember us?" I asked.

"I was ordered by Master to wait here for his guests. I shall bring you to Master's laboratory now," said Dodo. I suppose it was worth rejoicing that at the very least, Dodo still spoke a Blueling language.

"What do you mean master? Are you referring to Temo? Did that fellow wipe Dodo's memory? I must teach that dwarf a lesson," said Zhang Bao'er, who was infuriated that Dodo no longer remembered him.

"Enough. Let's follow Dodo to meet Temo. We'll get our answer there," I said.

Zhang Bao'er stopped complaining, and the four of us followed Dodo to the so-called laboratory.

We went into a long corridor of glass walls. Through the walls, I could see the models of numerous stars and planets. All of them looked vivid and lifelike, as though they were truly miniature versions of the celestial objects they represented. They were also moving in their own orbits, making them look even more real. Stars and planets of all sorts of forms could be seen.

At the end of the corridor was a large door. When we approached, it opened. The familiar face of Temo appeared before our eyes. The little fellow was standing behind the door, looking like he had been waiting for us.

"Welcome back. I did not expect you to actually survive after entering a particle space. Once again, you people of a planet-level civilization have given me a big surprise," said Temo. He might be welcoming us, but his words were not exactly pleasant to the ear.

"You! You actually wiped Dodo's memories! Do you want to try my fist?" scolded Zhang Bao'er, who couldn't control his temper.

"Fool, if it wasn't for my help, not to mention Dodo, your people would have lost the war long ago," said Temo, saying something that shocked all of us.